Apple has added a new alarm option in iOS 26.4 that changes how bedtime alarms work for Apple Watch owners. If a user wears an Apple Watch to bed, alarms set on the iPhone will by default sound only on the watch.
The new setting, called “Always Play on iPhone,” gives users a way to have the alarm ring on both the iPhone and the Apple Watch when it is enabled. It appears only when editing a Sleep Schedule in the Clock app on iPhone or in Apple’s Health app, and it is turned off by default.
The change matters for a narrow but real group: people who want the sleep tracking and watchOS 26 sleep score features, but still need a loud alarm to wake them. On the watch, alarms can also be experienced as haptic vibrations when the device is in silent mode, which is part of why the feature is built specifically for Apple Watch owners.
That design leaves one limit in place. The new setting does not appear for one-off alarms, only for alarms tied to a Sleep Schedule. For users who rely on the watch overnight, Apple’s new approach makes the default quieter and the louder option deliberate.
In practice, that means the alarm path now depends on how a person sets up sleep. When a user edits a Sleep Schedule alarm in iOS 26.4, the new toggle becomes available, giving Apple Watch wearers a choice between keeping the alarm on the watch alone or sending it to both devices.